Lily then rose from her sofa, towering head, shoulders and legs over us at 5ft 10 and half inches. Our hearts sank as we feared she'd be just as unpleasant as her PR.

But we were surprised when the softly-spoken model opened up for the first time about pal Heath Ledger's death, how she is swapping modelling for acting and her university party plans. Lily and 28-year-old Heath became close pals on the set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, even going on dates to gigs together in London.

She was stunned when news broke midway through filming that the actor had died.

Lily told us: "When he died it was one of the hardest, most devastating experiences. It was for everyone on set.

"When the three actors came to replace him it must have been hard for them too.

"But what was amazing was that the things they did came from a place of being friends with Heath."

Her experience of working alongside the Brokeback Mountain star has inspired Lily to focus on a movie career. She said: "I'd always been interested in acting, and that is taking priority over modelling now.

"It's very exciting, I'm very lucky."

But before heading to Hollywood, Lily starts Cambridge University next month to study history.

And the jet-setting model has been out of the country for so long she had no idea model pal Agyness Deyn, 23, had taken up singing.

She laughed: "Agyness is really in a band? Wow! I have been away for a while so I've lost touch with what is going on. That's why I can't wait for university, the chance to sleep in the same bed for eight weeks.

"I'll still do bits of modelling alongside my degree. We have long holidays, so I'm hoping I'll be able to work then.

"But modelling can get a little lonely sometimes, especially when you are travelling on your own. That's what I'm looking forward to about going to university to meet lots of new people."

So will the St Trinians star be slumming it in dorms to meet new pals? "Er, no," she sheepishly admits. "I've not decided where I'm going to live yet, whether I'll buy or rent."

Something tells us the millionairess won't be living off Pot Noodles either...